Brook Meadow

How to get to Brook MeadowBrook Meadow is situated on the eastern side of Emsworth. Grid Ref: SU 751060. From east to west it extends from the industrial units in Palmer’s Road to the gardens of the cottages in Lumley Road; from north to south it extends from the railway line to the A259. Its dimensions are approximately 400 metres by 250 metres, or approximately 5 acres. The nearest car parks are Bridge Road (free!) and Palmer’s Road Car Park behind Tesco Express in North Street (Pay and Display).

The above sketch map shows the three entrances to the meadow marked with Xs.
The North Gate is at the bottom of Seagull Lane, a turning off North Street just south of the railway bridge. Go through a kissing gate and over the wooden bridge which spans the River Ems into the main meadow. Note: there is no parking down Seagull Lane.
The Lumley Gate is accessed from Lumley Road. Turn left along the public footpath opposite The Rookery and over the small bridge, then right though the gate to the left of wooden 5-barred gate. Alternatively, you can walk up the footpath along the western side of Peter Pond and after passing Gooseberry Cottage, turn left into the meadow.
The South Gate is accessed from Palmer’s Road Car Park. In the north eastern corner of the car park, next to the recycling bins, is the start of a riverside path which goes through Palmer’s Road Copse. Walk through the copse with the River Ems on your left for about 100 yards. Then turn left over the wooden bridge and then left again through a wooden entrance gate into the southern part of Brook Meadow.

Interpretation BoardsBrook Meadow has two attractive interpretation boards with original artwork from local wildlife artist, Marian Forster. The artwork, which took over a year to create, is a pictorial map of the meadow showing the main paths and areas of woodland and grassland and a selection of some of the wildlife that can be seen there. We challenge you to find a better board anywhere! The boards can be seen at the northern entrance at the end of Seagull Lane and in the south east corner of Palmer’s Road Car Park. The original art work was donated to the Emsworth Museum by the conservation group where it can be seen just inside the door of the Museum in North Street opposite Tesco’s store.

Map of Brook MeadowHere is a more detailed map of Brook Meadow and its immediate environment. The Brook Meadow site is coloured green. Roads and paths are red and the river, millstream and millpond blue. The railway runs across the top of the map and the A259 road through Emsworth along the bottom. The gasholder (D) has been demolished, but the industrial complex is on the left and Lumley Road on the right.
Access points . .A – Seagull Lane . . . B – Lumley gate . . . C – South gate
Features . . . E – Lumley Road Copse . . . F – Palmer’s Road Copse . . .G -Palmer’s Road Car Park.

A Brief History of Brook MeadowDocuments show that Brook Meadow has been a water meadow since the middle of the 19th century. The meadow has been owned by Havant Borough Council since July 1990 when it was purchased from the Mitchell family who used to reside in “Constant Springs”, the large house on the north side of the railway through which the River Ems runs before it goes into Brook Meadow. The meadow gets its name from a Brook Farm which was located on the east side of North Street in the middle of the last century, roughly opposite to where St James Road now enters North Street.
The 1838 Tithe Map and Schedule (Warblington, Ref F7/243/1-2) indicates that Brook Farm had pastures and orchards down to the river, all of which are now built over. The area on the other side of the river, i.e. our Brook Meadow, was described in the schedules as “water meadows”, which presumably means they were regularly flooded from the river.Below Brook Farm the 1838 map shows the river flowed into a millpond. This was presumably created to provide a head of water for Emsworth Flour Mills at the bottom of Queen Street. Although there is no longer a millpond at this point it must have a very long history in view of the fact (as indicated by David Rudkin in his book “The River Ems”) that there had been a mill here at least as far back as the Doomsday Book of 1086.‘Brook Meadow Through the Ages’ by Frances Jannaway is an 80 page illustrated booklet with lots more information about this history of the meadow and the conservation group. Price of £2.50 available from Pam Phillips E-mail: p.phillips367@btinternet.com

Commemorative plaqueThere is a commemorative plaque on the north bridge for two airmen who lost their lives when their plane crashed on brook Meadow in 1944

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